


The Truth Untold

by Celestiare



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, Keith is lowkey touch starved, M/M, a dash of enemies of lovers, and when you touch for a final time... :), as a treat, but only when they touch...so when they're alone the whole world is gray, soulmates see color, thEY'RE SO STUBBORN BUT SO IN LOVE OKAY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28215747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celestiare/pseuds/Celestiare
Summary: Keith lies about having a soulmate, which would have been fine if he didn't brush against Lance McClain's hand in Ethics 101.Soulmate AU in which soulmates can only see color when they touch.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 58





	The Truth Untold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WonderElle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderElle/gifts).



Keith feels like an idiot as he stares at the 24-count box of crayons in his hand. It doesn't help that sweat prickles the back of his neck, because he knows the suspiciously long amount of time he's been standing there trying to calculate the probability of choosing a _blue_ crayon out of the twenty-three crayons, is making him look really, really, bad. 

"Keith?" Hunk calls over his shoulder, mainly muffled by the roll of tape shoved in his mouth as he smoothes their poster on the wall with both of his hands. "You good over there? No worries, but we kinda need a blue crayon right now, buddy!"

Keith ignores him as he brushes his fingertips over the tops of the crayons, as though he could tell by touch what color they were. Normally, he would just look at the name on the side, but somehow, someone managed to peel off every piece of paper on the waxy surface. It was as though the universe was cursing him specifically to make up for his blatant disregard for something he knows he should be thankful for. 

Instead, he feels like he's back in kindergarten, not eighteen and struggling to keep up with a lie he's been telling since he was seven. 

"I knew you had to be bad at something," Lance suddenly says from beside him, and if Keith wasn't already used to this guy appearing out of nowhere would've probably throttled him, as he takes the box from Keith's hands. "I would help, but you know. _Soulmate thing._ " Lance taps under his eye for good measure, giving him a cheeky grin.

Keith's eye twitches as his relief quickly morphs into the self-control needed not to throttle his classmate. 

"I know, you haven't shut up about it since we first met," Keith says, trying to not make his tone too biting to showcase his all-too-obvious avoidance of the subject. Lance sticks his tongue out as he narrows his eyes, and for a strange moment, Keith worries if he can see right through him. But Lance turns back to the crayons and jiggles them, before taking two random ones and tosses the box back on the table.

"God, maybe it's a good thing you don't have a soulmate, that dude must be a real bummer having someone as sunshiney as you," Lance says as he turns and walks back to the group while waving his hand. "I don't know what color these are, but we're using them anyway!" 

Hunk and Pidge look up from the front of the classroom. Pidge quickly jumps down from the chair they used to tape the remaining posters on the whiteboard as they then look between them with a raised eyebrow, before shoving their sleeves up to their elbows.

"Why didn't you just make Keith do it?" Pidge asks as they hold their palm up, which Lance promptly drops the crayons into. 

"Because he was staring at the box like it was going to start talking to him," Lance retorts, side-eyeing him as Keith rolls his eyes.

"I'm not the one who made us do this project in the first place as penalty for our failing our last group exam, idiot." 

Lance throws his hands in the air, looking offended as he then crossed them over his chest. "Hey! Isn't Shiro your big brother or something? Why don't you ask him why he gave us this project, huh? Besides, it's not my fault I was the only one willing to question the moral ambiguity of-"

"Hey Lance, sorry to interrupt, but somehow you managed to actually pick out two blue crayons. That's really cool, dude." Hunk smiles, holding up the crayon before drawing a big circle on the paper. Lance turns to Keith and holds his chin up high with a smug grin. Keith hates how it makes his stomach flip. 

"You see that, Keith? It's called _talent_ , and my awesome and uncanny ability to guess." Lance leans forward to nudge him with his shoulder, and Keith pushes back with the same force, his eyebrow raised. 

"Isn't that the same _'talent'_ that got us a failing grade?" Keith glares, making Lance gasp as he jerks backward, raising his hands defensively.

" _Me?_ Maybe. But that doesn't mean anything because it was a _group_ exam, meaning that you failed just as much as I did-"

"You two are the most oblivious idiots I've ever met," Pidge groans, pushing past them to reach for the stack of papers on the front desk. They suddenly turn around, flipping through the notes as they then look up, their face carefully neutral, which immediately sets Keith on edge. "Or maybe that's just what passes for flirting nowadays." 

Keith ignores the way Hunk cackles in the background as Lance's jaw _drops_ as though Pidge had just suggested that he do a strip-tease for the entire board of education instead. Keith would've laughed if he wasn't pretty sure that Lance's expression was mirrored in his. Lance points at Keith with a scandalized look that almost offends Keith.

 _"Flirting?_ _With Keith Kogane?_ Are you kidding me? This guy is so emotionally constipated he wouldn't know what flirting was even if it hit him in the face!"

"I dunno, try hitting Keith in the face then," Hunk innocently suggests as Lance whirls around to face him, clinging to his shoulders as his face bleeds with betrayal. Hunk sheepishly pats his friend's back apologetically, but anyone with a brain would've been able to see that Hunk's face held no remorse.

"Yeah, Lance, try hitting me in the face," Keith deadpans, crossing his arms. "Let's see where that gets you." 

"I'm _not_ , because I'm not flirting with you!" Lance protests, which would've been pretty convincing if his voice didn't crack halfway. Keith raises an eyebrow and watches the way that Lance's face flushes. (What Keith knows contextually is _red_ , because that's what he's been told. Red is the color of embarrassment, warmth, and faces of people like Lance who say dumb stuff for a living). 

"Of course your not, you sound like your still going through puberty," Keith says in an attempt to gather his derailed thoughts in the way he knows best. And then pretends he doesn't like the way Lance's chin rises indignantly. 

"Oh yeah? Well, I have something that proves otherwise-"

 _"GOD!"_ Pidge yells, throwing their hands in the air as they turn to Hunk, papers now nearly crumpled in their tiny hands. "The sexual tension in this room is _killing_ me. Hunk, come with me to the printer, we forgot to print the last page of our presentation." 

Hunk, who suddenly looks all too happy to leave the room, nods enthusiastically. "Right behind you." 

_"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT SEXUAL TENSION!? YOU'RE SIX-"_ The door closes behind him, not before Keith catches a few confused faces. "-teen..."

They stand there for a moment, suddenly very aware that they are alone, the once playful air now turning very awkward. Lance takes this opportunity to glare at him like it was _Keith's_ fault for yelling about sexual tension on the top of his lungs in a school setting, before crossing his arms as leans against the whiteboard across from him.

Keith sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. 

"Did you at least practice for our presentation?" Keith asks, looking past his hand at Lance, who visibly straightens and clears his throat. 

"Of course I did. I know I may not look like it, but I can actually take my studies seriously. I didn't have anyone buy my way into this school, just me and my good ol' brain." Lance says, rapping this side of his head with knuckles. Lance suddenly pushes away from the board and Keith _hates_ the way he freezes when Lance reaches past him for the mess of papers on the desk. 

And for the love of everything in this world, Keith can't explain _why_ his eyes trail Lance's shoulders in that stupid t-shirt, down his back to his tapered waist and-

"Did I also mention," Lance says, making Keith's eyes snap back to his hidden face, but Keith _knows_ he's smiling _,_ "that I have an uncanny ability to detect when people are checking me out?" 

Keith tries to not choke on his next breath as he regains his composure like Lance didn't verbally punch him in the gut.

"Don't flatter yourself," Keith snaps, turning his eyes back to the whiteboard. "I wasn't checking you out." 

Keith didn't look as Lance leaned back to look at him, before shaking his head and has the audacity to laugh. 

"Has anyone told you that your ears turn red when you lie? _"_

Keith, for once, has nothing to say.

He just looks at Lance, his eyes are a swirl of gray he notes, and for a moment Keith wonders what color they would really be. Lance told him once, that his eyes were blue, the color the sea, which Keith was already "supposed" to know, but secretly tucked the information away. He doesn't know why.

Fortunately, he receives his first small mercy of today as they hastily jump apart at the sound of the door opening, his savior entering the room with impeccable timing.

And it doesn't take Shiro more than two seconds to read the room. He sighs and clutches his travel-sized coffee mug (which Keith thinks should be legally classified as a weapon, because Jesus Christ how much coffee can that thing hold?) and rubs the side of his face with the other. Which Keith thinks is an impressive feat considering the pile of folders and papers clutched in his arms. 

"Are you two done? Because I would greatly appreciate it if you two behaved in a cordial manner for a least the ten minutes it takes for you to complete today's presentation. Which, I might add, was graciously created on impromptu since you were the only failing grade." 

Lance flushes at the reminder, before shaking his head and goes back to their posters. "Which we thank you for," Lance says, taking a yardstick that was propped on the side of a cabinet and points to the whiteboard. "But as you can see, we're totally and completely prepared to ace this presentation."

"Yeah, the crayon pictures really sells it," Keith adds because it was Lance's idea and he can't help but take every opportunity to rile him up. 

And Lance, of course, takes the bait. 

_"Like you can do any better-"_

_"I wasn't childish enough-"_

They both don't notice as Shiro slouches in his chair, closing his eyes as he pinches his nose. 

"Ten. Minutes."

Miraculously, they're both still intact by the time the rest of the class fills in the tiered rows of the classroom, Pidge and Hunk running in with the final paper and glint in their eyes that Keith decidedly doesn't like, and with a quick (unnecessary) introduction they're ready to begin. 

Keith could care less what the class thinks of him, so starts the presentation with an unwavering voice as Lance steps aside to point at the poster for him. With the yardstick. He resists the urge to grit his teeth in annoyance.

"We're going to start out today with the ethical dilemma of lying," Keith announces to the class, turning to sweep over the tables and all the while trying to ignore the odd feeling in his stomach that makes his breakfast settle unsteadily. "Um- we had to come up with our own example of that and Lance is showing right there." 

And god if Keith has learned anything in class it's that he can not present anything for the life of him. Sighing, he folds his paper and turns back to the board, and pointedly ignoring Lance's look of exasperation.

"And whether it's ethical... or not." Someone coughs in the audience. "Which brings us to our next point."

Pidge pulls a laser pointer from their pocket, disregarding Lance's betrayed face as they point it at the board. "Everyone lies!" 

"Even to ourselves," Hunk adds, reading off his paper that Keith pointedly is not looking at. 

"So, is lying only justified when we see fit? Only when it benefits us?" Lance interjects, tapping his yardstick against the wall to make his point like the sound would magically clear the disinterest in the room for this eight a.m. class. Shiro is the only one focusing with rapt attention on the sidelines, giving an encouraging nod to the group. 

Keith suddenly wishes he had taken the failing grade. 

After a moment of awkward silence, Keith realizes that it's his turn to speak. 

"Uh- lying is seen as a morally wrong thing to do in society, but there are lies we tell to save face or protect others," Keith rambles, feeling closer to the topic than he would like, and god he wishes he was anyone other than here. "so it creates this paradox...because lying can not be both good and bad at the same time." 

Lance is looking at him funny, and Keith wonders if he should've shut his mouth a few sentences ago. Keith gives a sigh of relief as Hunk quickly steps in for him.

"Dude, can you just look at the paper," Lance says under his breath as Keith moves to stand next to him. Keith's skin prickles as he glares at him. They fail to notice the glances between students, picking up on the infamously bickering duo's energy that always seems to crackle with an impending fight. 

"No, I don't think so."

"Look, I know you're stupidly smart but you obviously don't look comfortable up there. Just use the script." 

"I don't even-"

Lance grabs the paper.

His skin accidentally brushes against Keith's and his world _explodes_. 

Keith feels a horrible sickness build in his chest as he gasps because he can see color, and his touch so _warm_. It bleeds into his vision like a wound, and Keith can't bear to make a sound as they stay frozen, nearly immobilized at the feeling that surges right through his chest, his heartbeat thrumming his fingertips, so loud that he's sure Lance could hear it from there and the thought is terrifyingly vulnerable. 

Lance is the only thing in focus, and god, his eyes are the color of rough seas, tumultuous and beautiful that Keith's heart _breaks_. 

Keith jerks his hand back like his touch scalds him, and his world turns to ash. Keith watches as Lance swallows the hurt as they stare wide-eyed at each other because Keith's supposed to hate him, the _idea_ of him, and suddenly it becomes too much. 

The room is deathly silent as Keith runs out of the room, the door slamming behind him. 

Because for two months Keith Kogane has adamantly denied that he has a soulmate. 

And for two months, Lance McClain believed it. 

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS FOR MY BFF GISSELLE I LOVE YOU <3 IM SO GLAD I'M ABLE TO WRITE THIS SHIP FOR YOU, I LOVE KLANCE TO DEATH (MWHHAHAH) AND I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS!!! This fic is lowkey breaking my heart and i hope it breaks ur heart in all the best of ways too <3
> 
> (also I listened to Suga's Interlude/More writing this, and it just hurts so BAD. Well, just mainly Halsey's entire discography/specifically her manic album. Agh, I love her music to death)
> 
> two more chapters to go, because that death tag was not an accident bby ;) ahhh my heart im so sorry


End file.
